The 3 Greatest Attributes of Exceptional Leaders

The list of characteristics of great leaders is endless. And while they all make for a good read, none of them fully capture the essence of what makes a great leader in a complete way.

Great leaders may possess a myriad of attributes, not the least of which are intelligence, charisma and natural charm. All of these things matter. However, you can be a great leader and not be naturally charming or very intelligent. In my time at PeoplePerHour I’ve learned a lot about leadership. I have come to the conclusion that there are three key attributes a great leader must have.

Vision: The ability to amass a great team, motivate and inspire them is plain useless if you don’t have a clear vision of where you need to go. Leadership is first about seeing the future and then about being able to figure out a feasiblepath to get there. It’s seeing the iceberg before the Titanic hits it and taking fast and decisive action. It’s doing the one right thing rather than doing many things right. It’s being different, not following the herd, being controversial, and seeing what others don’t see. It’s having a nose for what’s coming and the eyes and ears to react before others do. Without vision, you can empower people all you like but you won’t get anywhere. You’ll have a following but no direction. You may make a great motivational coach, but not a leader. Every difficult situation needs a visionary leader to point the way and make a tough decision.

Influence: Once you have a clear vision (but only then), you need a sting following. That requires the power of influence. Whether you are in an existing leadership situation or the creator of a group, this is very hard thing to do. In either case, you are new to the situation and the odds are against you. Why should people trust someone new? The vast majority of people are resistant to change, no matter the odds. In order to fulfill any grand vision, you need to drive change. Otherwise you are just a puppet master holding the strings waiting for the show to end. Influence people across the board — explain to employees the benefit of leaving secure jobs and come join you; convince investors to give you money at the very beginning, get customers and fans to support you, your bank manager to give you an overdraft, your landlord to give you a lease and rent-free period; and your wife to put up with sleepless nights, cold sweats and no pay. Carry that burden of influence with you. If you go down, you take more people with you than yesterday.

Courage: The third element is the most challenging. You’ve clarified a vision and built a following by charming, coercing, schmoozing…ultimately influencingenough people. After all this work, you realize that it’s only day one. Now you have your boat (more like a raft) and your compass. But you still need to cross the ocean. This is the final and true test of great leadership. It ultimately comes down to courage. Intelligence and knowledge are advantages of course, but without courage they are wasted. Courage alone could and would get you there, albeit slower and with more pain. So the key question is: Do you have the courage to keep going when everyone tells you to turn back; to know you’re right when everyone says you’re wrong; to stick to your instincts when people call you crazy; to carry other people’s weight when they fall; to set the tempo and beat the drum despite how tired you may be? It’s your job to keep people together when they are drifting apart and losing faith, to give them courage but not false hope, to let go of some to save many, and to weather the storm but not bask in the sunlight when it ends — because it never does.

Vision and influence will make you a well equipped captain. But courage is what gets you there. On the other hand, courage alone makes you a fighter without a cause. You may be good at creating lots of noise, but to paraphrase Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”: that’s just “the noise before defeat.”

America's 500 Biggest Companies

Wal-Mart Stores The retail giant held on to the top spot on the Fortune 500, edging out Exxon Mobil for the second year in a row. For fiscal year 2014, Wal-Mart’s net sales totaled $473.1 billion, up 1.6% from the year-earlier period. While its sales grew domestically, Wal-Mart said the expiration of a payroll tax cut, reductions in the U.S. food stamp program, and poor winter weather hurt its results. But in the U.S., Wal-Mart is bullish about its plans to open even more small stores, which compete with drugstores and small grocery stores.

Justin Sullivan—Getty Images

Exxon Mobil In 2013, Exxon Mobil’s total revenue dropped 8.8% to $438.26 billion, and net income fell an even steeper 27%. Oil production took a tumble in 2013, all while capital and exploration expenditures increased. While Exxon has said it plans to start production at a record 10 major projects this year, capital spending is expected to decline 6.4% from 2012. Deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico and a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea are among the ventures scheduled for this year.

Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Chevron Chevron, the U.S.’s second-largest oil company after Exxon Mobil, posted a 5.4% decrease in total revenue in 2013, to $228.9 billion. Chevron Chief Executive John Watson said results were hurt by lower global crude oil prices and refining margins, as well as fewer asset sale gains and higher expenses. The company expects production will increase in 2015 and beyond. Chevron says it has also made progress with its projects in Australia and the Gulf of Mexico.

Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway’s per-share book value climbed 18.2% in 2013, but it underperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which grew by more than 32% with dividends. The company traditionally outperforms the S&P when the index falls or moderately rises, but falls short in years when the market is strong. Berkshire kicked off 2013 with a big-name acquisition, joining 3G Capital to pay $23 billion to acquire H.J. Heinz. The earnings boost from that deal, which closed in June, is expected to be substantial in 2014, according to Chief Executive Warren Buffett.

Bill Pugliano—Getty Images

Apple Apple’s net sales keep climbing, as the tech giant continues to sell more iPhones and digital content. But the company faces pressure in the smartphone business, as Android phones grow increasingly dominant. Meanwhile, Apple reported an annual drop in net income in fiscal year 2013, a first in more than a decade. Activist investor Carl Icahn last year disclosed a stake in Apple and subsequently pushed for the company to spend billions on share buybacks. In April, the company increased the amount of shares it is authorized to repurchase and raised its quarterly dividend by 8%, and in late May it announced it was acquiring Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion.

JOHANNES EISELE—AFP/Getty Images

Phillips 66 The refining company reported a 4% dip in revenue in 2013 — the first full-year results since it separated from the exploration division of ConocoPhillips in 2012. Results were hurt by lower average prices for crude oil and petroleum products. Phillips 66 is planning to spend about 40% more on capital expenditures in 2014 compared to the prior year, as the company invests in its midstream and chemicals segments to capitalize on North America’s energy renaissance.

Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

General Motors GM’s troubles with its dangerously defective vehicles don’t appear to have hurt sales — at least not yet. In April, the automaker’s U.S. sales rose 7% from a year ago as CEO Mary Barra explained to Congress how GM would handle recalls of millions of its vehicles. This follows higher vehicle sales in 2013 across many key markets, including the U.S., South America and the Asia/Pacific. The company expects to spend $1.7 billion to cover the cost of its record-setting number of recalls so far in 2014.

Paul Marotta—Getty Images

Ford Ford has benefitted from a stronger economic recovery in the U.S., as many drivers look to replace their aging vehicles. Executives also expect it to be profitable in North America this year, albeit at a lower level than in 2013. In Europe, where Ford has closed factories and cut thousands of jobs, the company expects to report a narrower loss in 2014 and achieve profitability the following year. Worldwide, Ford’s 2013 revenue increased 10% from the previous year to $146.9 billion, while profits climbed 26%.

Joe Raedle—Getty Images

General Electric GE kicked off 2013 with a large asset sale announcement, agreeing in February to sell its remaining stake in NBCUniversal’s joint venture with Comcast for $18.1 billion. Proceeds from that sale were used to accelerate both share buybacks and the conglomerate’s restructuring plans. In the year ahead, GE is looking to invest. In April, the company made an offer to to buy French firm Alstom’s power and grid businesses for nearly $17 billion — a deal that would, if approved, immediately boost GE’s earnings.

Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Valero Valero has benefited from increased oil and gas production in North America, and the company has said domestic gasoline demand and margins look positive heading into the summer driving season. This comes after some big changes for the refining giant: Valero completed the spin off of its retail business, CST Brands, last year. And earlier this year, the company named its new CEO, Joe Gorder, who was previously the company’s chief operating officer.